Risen

You are to help them until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. Joshua 1:13-15

Jesus is our identity-maker. Without Him we are limited in our understanding of the depth and the value of the human heart. Though tainted, Jesus wants it anyway. Jesus goes to such lengths to communicate His love to us. Just take a look outside your window. Nature speaks the beauty and power of God. Every flower, every tone of our skies, every raindrop speaks life. God loves us while we were yet sinners. He comes into our space and desires to embrace our brokenness for the sake of our healing and for our freedom.

We can get caught up in the fears of what the unknown may conjure up, the potential decisions that can welcome in the mundane and the disappointments that slowly enslave us, making us feel powerless to change our circumstances. BUT GOD… He calls us out of darkness and leads us into His light. Jesus delivers us out of captivity and into a journey of a redemptive nature and discovery. He reveals the mystery of your unique you.

Jesus calls you by name. He tears down all the limitations that have kept you down and rebuilds your identity with authentic purpose and new meaning out of your pain and loss. He leaves nothing to waste. Not only does he give you identity and with that, an inherent purpose of being but Jesus is your number one fan. He wants nothing more but for you and me to succeed in this life, to advance and take on new challenges. New adventures await you, greater risks and greater rewards so that we gain a clearer picture of what His love can activate in us.

God’s glory, hope, and power are to be displayed on the canvas of our lives for the sake of others. Jesus rescues you so you can rescue others from that which seasons passed inflicted you. Eternal victory says to us today: O’ death where is your sting? For the sting and power of death is the sin that Jesus became for us on the cross. He swallowed it whole so that we wouldn’t have to keep it in. He took it all from us once and for all. We are now covered in the perfect blood of Christ. His blood washes us clean that we would now be the light bearers of our homes, our cities, and the world.

Our faith is meant to spill over to touch multitudes. Help comes in unlikely forms. A carpenter from Nazareth clothed in inferior standing before men is, in fact, the Son of God who now sits at the right hand of the Father. Take Rahab, labeled as the harlot. Who by her faith made it possible, the fulfillment of the long-awaited promise for God’s sons and daughters to take their possession and receive their identity as a people. Or take the likes of a prideful and self-righteous persecutor who sought to bring an end to the mission of Jesus, the Apostle Paul would become the most influential missionary for Christ in all of history. God enjoys calling forth the assumed weak to confound that which is humanly received as mighty. He delights in whom is commonly despised by man to nullify the shallow values of the prideful.

Let us not live within a limited worldview created by the confines of human judgment and shame-talk. Let us develop the awareness and the humility necessary to build bridges of reconciliation and restoration that the Family of God would take their rightful place in His Kingdom purposes. May His name be magnified as we all partake of His resurrection power, His promises in blessed assurance that by walking in faith and love, we will gain greater territory for God’s people.

The blood of Jesus covers us and by His blood, we declare protection for all who are in our sphere of influence as we pray, intercede, and stand in the gap for those who can’t stand for themselves. Let us watch God be glorified as He tears down all the chains of darkness and release the potency and power of His presence. His presence is our healing and our gift to unleash forgiveness through His eternal love.

Jesus has given us the keys to the Kingdom. Let’s set the captives free. It’s time to unlock the cuffs and the prison doors of the mind and spirit… Lord may your Kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ name, we count it as done. Amen.